Phony Fees Allegedly Added Up to Thousands for D.C. Clerk

D.C. Clerk Accused of Taking Cash for Fake Fees

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A District government clerk is accused of frauding several Washington businesses out of thousands of dollars in an elevator license scheme.

Prosecutors said that when a business would try to renew its elevator license with the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, worker Ikela M. Dean, 32, would charge them for the renewal, which businesses could pay by check or money order, but then add a separate charge for fake late fees that businesses had to pay in cash. Authorities said Dean would keep the money in a scam that netted more than $4,000.

Dean went on trial Monday in U.S. District Court on bribery and extortion charges. She was arrested after an undercover FBI investigation that included the use of hidden cameras to record at least two payments, prosecutors said. Read the Washington Post's full report.